Zacconi, Ludovico

1540

Musician and writer; born at Pesaro, Italy. The greater part of his life was spent at Venice, where he became an Augustinian monk and was appointed chapelmaster of the great church belonging to the order. In 1593 he went to Vienna upon the invitation of Archduke Charles to become leader of the Court Orchestra and two years later he went to Munich to hold a like position under the Duke of Bavaria. He returned to Vienna in 1619 to devote his time to theoretical works. The first part of his great work, Pratica di musica, was published in 1592 at Venice and reprinted in 1596 and the second part was published in 1622. It is upon this work that his fame rests and it is considered as one of the most valuable treatises on the subject of practical music in existence. It explains the treatment of Consonant and Dissonant Progressions, the complications of Mode, Time and Prolation, the laws of Cantus Fictus, besides giving a splendid description of the instruments of his day.